mac·ro

[mak-roh] adjective, noun, plural mac·ros.
adjective
1.
very large in scale, scope, or capability.
2.
of or pertaining to macroeconomics.
noun
3.
anything very large in scale, scope, or capability.
4.
Photography. a macro lens.
5.
Also called macroinstruction. Computers. an instruction that represents a sequence of instructions in abbreviated form.
00:10
Macro is always a great word to know.
So is central casting. Does it mean:
a print with picture and sound placed side by side on the same strand of film after all postproduction work on picture and sound has been completed
an agency or studio department responsible for hiring actors, especially bit players or extras

Origin:
independent use of macro-, taken as an adjective, or by shortening of words with macro- as initial element

Dictionary.com Unabridged

macro-

a combining form meaning “large,” “long,” “great,” “excessive,” used in the formation of compound words, contrasting with micro-: macrocosm; macrofossil; macrograph; macroscopic.
Also, especially before a vowel, macr-.


Origin:
< Greek makro-, combining form of makrós long; cognate with Latin macer lean; see meager

macro-, micro-.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
macro (ˈmækrəʊ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl macros
1.  a macro lens
2.  Also: macro instruction a single computer instruction that initiates a set of instructions to perform a specific task

macro- or (before a vowel) macr-
 
combining form
1.  large, long, or great in size or duration: macroscopic
2.  Compare micro- (in pathology) indicating abnormal enlargement or overdevelopment: macrocyte
3.  producing larger than life images: macrophotography
 
[from Greek makros large; compare Latin macermeagre]
 
macr- or (before a vowel) macr-
 
combining form
 
[from Greek makros large; compare Latin macermeagre]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

macro-
comb. form meaning "long," from Gk. makros "long, large," from PIE base *mak-/*mek- "long, thin" (cf. L. macer "lean, thin;" O.N. magr, O.E. mæger "lean, thin;" Gk. mekos "length," makros "long").

macro
in computing sense, 1959, from macroinstruction, from macro- + instruction.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

macro- or macr-
pref.

  1. Large: macronucleus.

  2. Long: macrobiotic.

  3. Inclusive: macroamylase.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
macro-  
A prefix meaning "large," as in macromolecule, a large molecule.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary

macro

/mak'roh/ n. [techspeak] A name (possibly followed by a formal arg list) that is equated to a text or symbolic expression to which it is to be expanded (possibly with the substitution of actual arguments) by a macro expander. This definition can be found in any technical dictionary; what those won't tell you is how the hackish connotations of the term have changed over time.

The term `macro' originated in early assemblers, which encouraged the use of macros as a structuring and information-hiding device. During the early 1970s, macro assemblers became ubiquitous, and sometimes quite as powerful and expensive as HLLs, only to fall from favor as improving compiler technology marginalized assembler programming (see languages of choice). Nowadays the term is most often used in connection with the C preprocessor, LISP, or one of several special-purpose languages built around a macro-expansion facility (such as TeX or Unix's [nt]roff suite).

Indeed, the meaning has drifted enough that the collective `macros' is now sometimes used for code in any special-purpose application control language (whether or not the language is actually translated by text expansion), and for macro-like entities such as the `keyboard macros' supported in some text editors (and PC TSR or Macintosh INIT/CDEV keyboard enhancers).

macro-

pref. Large. Opposite of micro-. In the mainstream and among other technical cultures (for example, medical people) this competes with the prefix mega-, but hackers tend to restrict the latter to quantification.
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

MACRO definition


1. Assembly language for VAX/VMS.
2. PL/I-like language with extensions for string processing. "MACRO: A Programming Language", S.R. Greenwood, SIGPLAN Notices 14(9):80-91 (Sep 1979).
[Jargon File]

macro definition


A name (possibly followed by a formal argument list) that is equated to a text or symbolic expression to which it is to be expanded (possibly with the substitution of actual arguments) by a macro expander.
The term "macro" originated in early assemblers, which encouraged the use of macros as a structuring and information-hiding device. During the early 1970s, macro assemblers became ubiquitous, and sometimes quite as powerful and expensive as HLLs, only to fall from favour as improving compiler technology marginalised assembly language programming (see languages of choice). Nowadays the term is most often used in connection with the C preprocessor, Lisp, or one of several special-purpose languages built around a macro-expansion facility (such as TeX or Unix's troff suite).
Indeed, the meaning has drifted enough that the collective "macros" is now sometimes used for code in any special-purpose application control language (whether or not the language is actually translated by text expansion), and for macro-like entities such as the "keyboard macros" supported in some text editors (and PC TSRs or Macintosh INIT/CDEV keyboard enhancers).
(1994-12-06)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
macro
macroinstruction
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
It also won't stop your body from losing its ability to repair cellular damage on a macro scale.
On a macro scale, the great imperial systems of history have been exercises in outsourcing.
The currents were quite strong and the conditions weren't really good for shooting macro.
The chemistry of batteries needs to be improved at the nano level and brought up to the macro level.
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